– Nigeria is in the midst of ethno-religious crisis that threatens its peaceful co-existence
– Practically all the ethnic groups are war with one another
– But can the country afford another Civil War?
The Nigeria-Biafra War was the first Civil war fought in Nigeria
The gruesome clashes among Nigeria’s disparate ethno-religious groups have become a nightmare that haunts the country.
They constitute a threat to its peaceful co-existence and can only lead to one predictable end–another war reminiscent of the Civil War.
Sadly, the political elite seemed powerless or at best complicit in the face of deadly clashes that have left thousands of people dead or displaced and properties destroyed in recent years.
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The clashes that have gripped the entire nation are the direct consequences of the deep divisions in hitherto peaceful communities.
In recent years, it has become a common phenomenon to see two or more warring ethnic groups that have co-existed for centuries suddenly at daggers drawn.
The causes of the disagreements which usually range from differences over land, borders dispute, allocation of natural resources, kinship issues or farmland matters would gradually degenerate into a fratricidal war among groups who had once share a lot in common and even inter-married.
Nnamdi Kanu is championing another breakaway group, IPOB, reminiscent of the Biafra secessionists that led to the first Civil War
In the years gone by, such disagreements are usually arbitrated at family or traditional institution level.
Not anymore, today we have seen how disputes among neighboring ethnic groups will spiral into an all-out war with sophisticated weapons used to inflict the maximum damage of genocidal proportions. It’s a tragedy.
In many cases, the dispute would become a political tool to be used for personal and group agenda by those who seek to profit from the conflicts that have engulfed an entire nation.
The scenarios of attacks are all too familiar. In the middle of the night, marauding ethnic warlords armed with dangerous weapons-machetes, guns, bow and arrow, charms will lay siege on the opposing village or town killing and maiming defenseless people in their sleep.
Children are not spared as they are beheaded, pregnant women ripped off their babies.
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The atrocities committed by warring ethnic groups in the country are worse than worst genocide in places like Rwanda where an ethnic cleansing between Tutsi and Hutu rebels left close to a million dead within weeks of its outbreak in 1994.
In Nigeria, ongoing clashes among ethnic groups continue to wreck human havoc on the polity.
These clashes have left a deep scar on Nigeria psyche and caused deep division among otherwise peaceful communities.
In the north-east, the Nigerian state is battling Boko Haram Islamist’s which has been fighting to create a Caliphate
Ethnic and religious issues form part of the most recurring phenomena in Nigeria’s body politics. The issue has permeated the nation’s political land scape since the colonial period and up till the present time.
There seems to be no solution in sight to the accompanying conflicts of ethnic rivalry and religious intolerance. The dominant and minority ethnic groups treat each other with suspicion and the different religious world view clash at the slightest provocation.
Peace and security have eluded this country from the machinations of the British in the amalgamation theory of 1914 where peoples having differences in every aspects of life, were forced together to satisfy British administrative conveniences.
What many Nigerians have called the mistake of 1914 has been blamed as the bedrock of ethno-religious conflicts bedeviling this nation.
In Niger Delta, there is a resurgence of agitation for resource control
Rival ethnic groups pitched against each other in a fight for power and resources engage in bloody ethnic cleansing relentlessly.
During the years before Independence, British aware of the dangers, began constitutional changes which culminated in the Richards Constitution which were designed “to promote the unity of Nigeria, to provide adequately within that unity for the diverse elements which make up the country”.
The plethora of constitutional conferences organized after independence which were meant to address the question of an acceptable system of co-existence has been contentious.
However, post-Independence military era seemed to have suppressed the discontent of a lopsided nationhood. But the religious aspect of the debacle continued to resurface with successive military administrations.
The military era lasted for most of the country’s post-independence years between 1966-1979 and 1983-1999 repressing these ethno-nationalist tendencies and maintaining the unity of the country.
However, the bottled-up discontents associated with ethno-religion in Nigeria exploded with the return of constitutional democracy in 1999, intently throwing up issues beyond the capacities of the civil government.
This circumstances, invariably threatened the peace, security and survival of the country’s long awaited democracy and its corporate existence.
Consequently, government not wanting to be seen as weak, adopted condemnable authoritarian use of massive force to deal with this problem. But it seemed the more the fire of ethno-religious is being doused, the more inflammable it has become.
In Jos since 2001, ethnic clashes over cattle grazing and control of farmlands have pitched the indigenous ethnic Christian Berom people against the the Hausa-Fulani population.
In sustained attacks on communities such as Riyom and Barkin Ladi, entire families have been wiped out in some instances, with attacks occurring daily on homes, in fields and on roads.
Farms are looted, homes burnt, grain stores destroyed and crops cut down, depriving survivors of shelter, sustenance and income.
Fulani herdsmen are unleashing violence on communities
Death and destruction resulting from ethnic clashes have been the face of Plateau state since the return to democracy.
There is no end in sight to the killings. In Benue State, apart from the usual face between the indigenous Tiv and Idoma, deadly clashes have recently occurred when the nomadic Fulani herdsmen slaughtered about half a million Agatu ethnic group.
Before the latest massacre, there have been clashes between the Tivs and Fulani herdsmen. No doubt the Fulani herdsmen rage has added another layer to the growing clahes among ethnic groups in Nigeria.
What makes the Fulani herdsmen attacks unique is that they are carrying out their atrocities in various parts of the country. No one, not even the government is ready to rein in their brutalities on local population.
The Agatu massacre and many ethnic clashes across the country have shown the widening fault lines decades after Independence. The foundation of the present ethnic hate resulting in deadly clashes has long be established.
The pogrom of 1966, when more than thirty thousand ethnic Igbo group were massacred in the north which later led to a bloody Civil cemented the deep division among Nigeria’s ethnic groups.
Despite attempts to heal the wounds of the Civil War, the ethnic and religious divide continue to widen. Religion with its moral principles and values are expected to direct societies and the lives of its adherents.
Christianity and Islam, the two adopted religions in Nigeria, have made social welfare services and educational development an important component of their activities.
What is worrisome is the violence associated with those who have used the two faiths to propagate violence.
From Maitasine uprising of the 1980s to Boko Haram of today, it’s been violence associated with religious beliefs that is almost bringing government to her knees, while peace and security remain elusive.
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With the increasing wave of ethno-religious crises in Nigeria, our leaders must rise up to stop the killings and destruction associated with the clashes. Nigeria it war.
The sooner our leaders realize the better it will be for our peaceful co-existence as a country. The political elite must eschew the divisive rhetoric that has set Nigerians against one another.
For example, the toxic campaign that characterized the 2015 elections is still being felt today. Inter-ethnic dialogue and conflict resolution are the solution to frequent clashes.
Traditional institutions must continue to talk to their subjects on the need to co-exist peacefully. The political elite and law enforcement community must have the political will enforce the law.
The killings going on across the country must stop. otherwise, we may be heading towards another war more devastating than the first war.
The post Analysis: Is Nigeria heading for a second Civil War? appeared first on Nigeria News today & Breaking news | Read on NAIJ.COM.
Analysis: Is Nigeria heading for a second Civil War?
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